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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
IRAQ: Printers unhappy with loss of textbook contracts
BAGHDAD, 27 April 2004 (IRIN) - Electricity is often out, and thieves can break into their offices at any time. But faced with lucrative contracts to reprint all school textbooks in Iraq, many printing firms took out bank loans to buy more modern equipment to handle the work.
Capitalist-style competition has been intense in the former dictatorship for new contracts to print 3.1 million science, biology and chemistry textbooks in December, said Paul Gibbings, director of the textbook printing project for Iraq at the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), now based in Jordan.
But the fledgling economic success appears to be short lived, according to Gibbings. Local printers were recently told by the World Bank that only 20 percent of this school year's book printing, an estimated 11 million textbooks - would be allocated to Iraq, he said.
Some 64 million textbooks are to be reprinted this year. This is being done to rid them of references to the former Baath Party and images of former President Saddam Hussein. Funds are coming from a variety of donors, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
"From a personal point of view, I'm very disappointed," Gibbings told IRIN in the Jordanian capital, Amman. "Baghdad printers haven't got the chance to print their own books."
A World Bank representative, however, said he was not sure a decision had been made yet whether to award most printing contracts inside or outside Iraq. The World Bank has allocated US $100 million to emergency education projects - primarily the printing of textbooks.
"The bank, in general, favours a competitive process," Faris Hadad-Zervos, head of mission for the World Bank Iraq office in Amman, told IRIN. "It's very likely that the Iraqi printing companies would be hugely competitive."
The Baghdad printing industry could be one of the largest employers in Iraq, given that a lot of the labour done by machines in other countries is still done by hand, Gibbings said. For instance, collating of pages is done manually. Printing companies worldwide collectively are the seventh largest employer of people, he said.
"They should be allowed to catch up. Eleven million books is not going to keep a million people employed," Gibbings said. "It's a disaster for the Baghdad printers."
Based on the cost of the previously printed books, Iraqi printers are slightly less expensive than similar companies in Jordan and more expensive than those in Egypt, Gibbings said. Iraq holds the advantage in transport costs, since the books are to be distributed in the country, he added.
Making sure Iraqi printers get more work may also end up being a security issue, Gibbings said. If Iraqi printers don't get more work, they may hold protests, much as they did in December during the first round of contract awards, he said.
"We have clashes in the south and elsewhere right now," Gibbings said. "They demonstrated before when we said we would publish some books in Amman. If the printing is done outside (of Iraq) it could exacerbate the situation."
Even though there appears to be corruption in the printing industry, the new textbooks are getting to schools across the country. Thieves are not as interested in taking them as they are in stealing more lucrative items such as computers and air conditioners, also being sent to schools as they are repaired.
Themes: (IRIN) Children, (IRIN) Governance, (IRIN) Human Rights
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004
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